Sleeping Beauty
by EmpyreanSun
Summary: Steve and Tony in an Avengers twist on the classic fairy tale. Steve comes in to find a single red rose in a vase on the kitchen table. He can't quite fathom out why he feels so drawn to it.


Sleeping Beauty

Steve walked into the kitchen, rubbing his fingers through his freshly-washed hair and adjusting his grey t-shirt. He slowed to a standstill when he noticed a single red rose leaning elegantly out of the top of a transparent vase.

"Tony?" He called, noticing that the billionaire wasn't in the kitchen.

"Tony, someone's left you flowers." He added, raising his voice a little louder. "Or rather _one flower_." He murmured under his breath.

Steve stared at it for a few moments more, then walked away to pour himself a glass of water. He wasn't sure why it was bothering him so much.

Plenty of people had sent various members of the team flowers before. Most often the receiver was Natasha, who, after the initial first few bouquets, tended to give them all away to Pepper, as she adored flowers and kept them in her office. Natasha did, however, have a particular liking for Calla lilies Clint had one day informed them. Steve later noticed that these were the only ones she kept. Especially the black ones.

Flowers were not an unusual thing in the Tower. If they weren't secluded on a window sill or in the centre of a table Tony tended to knock them over quite often. Steve occasionally wondered if he did it on purpose because they didn't fit with his design for the Tower's interior.

If this one was still standing, it mustn't have been here long.

Finishing his water, he put the empty glass in the sink and turned to face the lone rose again. Leaning back against the bench he studied it more carefully. There was something about this flower that made it seem surreal. The colour was bordering on unnaturally vivid, yet the leaves were a darker green than Steve had ever seen before, and the petals were a darkened, rich red. Like the colour of blood.

Steve wasn't aware that he had walked across the room until he found himself directly in front of the table. Staring down at the blossom.

Roses had never interested the soldier this much before. They were a lovely gift, and undeniably very romantic but Steve had sometimes found them slightly clichéd. They had been a symbol for love since his previous life, and he felt that, for him at least, the idea was getting a little repetitive.

But for some reason he couldn't explain, he felt drawn to this one. It was just a flower, it shouldn't be absorbing all his attention. But it was.

The more he stared, the more it seemed to grow brighter. The bloom was almost fully open; the petals rolling onto one another. They curved lyrically, and the leaves were perfectly tapered and papery.

Steve bent slightly closer and inhaled its smell of meadows and fresh air. Should a rose normally smell like that? This question brushed past the Captain as he inhaled its scent again. It should matter, and he should find this strange, but his grip on rational thoughts was sliding away, and he was inhaling its intoxicating aroma once more.

Suddenly he wanted to touch the petals, just once.

Reaching out with his fingertips in an upward motion, he moved to touch the side of the flower head. Instead he caught a thorn.

"Ouch." Steve murmured, reflexively jerking his right hand back away from the rose. The humidity in the air seemed to vanish and colour returned to the room as the soldier took a step back. He looked at his index finger, which was now welling with blood, and did what anyone would automatically do – put it in his mouth.

Each sense came back into sharp focus, and he wondered how he had missed the petals and touched a thorn. Even more curious, was the fact that he had been driven on instinct to touch the flower in the first place. He had never done that before.

The blonde looked at his finger to see a thin cut running right along the pad. He put it back in his mouth as Tony walked into the room.

"Before you say anything I was two floors up, which means that you Mr gentle-and-calm, are just as loud as me." The genius looked smug before noticing the flower.

"Wow that's interesting. Don't think I've ever received just one before. Not one that colour either." He walked up to the table, eyes roving over the bud. "What happened to you? Get too enthusiastic with the bread knife again?" He added, his brown irises not leaving the plant.

All the while this was happening Steve was staring at Tony. His vision of the other man kept blurring and, as he turned to follow the billionaire's route to the table with his eyes, the room glided dangerously fast in the other direction.

"I…I cut it." The blonde stared down at his finger as it slowly dissolved out of focus.

"You cut it, on what? Thought it took jagged metal or flying shards of glass to cut that marble skin?" Tony joked. When the soldier didn't answer, he turned around to find Steve's glassy eyes attempting to converge on the rose. His irises were almost an unnatural shade of ice blue and his pupils were tiny.

"Steve?" Tony asked, immediately sensing the change in the other man.

The Captain moved his hand as if to point in Tony's direction, but before his could finish this action his knees gave way beneath him.

"Woah." Tony scrambled forward, managing to catch the younger man's head and shoulders in his arms before he hit the wooden floor. With surprising gentleness the genius lowered the bigger man down into his lap.

"Steve? Steve, you ok?" He asked gently patting the soldier's cheek. "JARVIS, put the S.H.I.E.L.D medical team on standby, we may have a situation."

After checking Steve's breathing and heartbeat, and finding nothing out of the ordinary, he studied the man's face. With his eyes closed and his features relaxed, he looked younger than ever.

Tony looked back towards where he had been standing. Steve had been about to point at something. What had he been trying to tell him?

Suddenly he saw the rose again. A single red rose.

"You have got to be kidding me." He murmured. Taking Steve's wrist he studied the cut. Definitely from a thorn. Resting the younger man's hand back over his stomach, Tony studied Steve's face again. Could he really just be sleeping?

He found himself staring at Steve's eyelashes. They were long, and very soft looking, but this suited him. Tony's eyes traced the curve of his teammate's jaw, the tint of his hair, examining every detail until they were finally resting on his lips. Rosy and somehow elegant, but not feminine.

For a moment Tony Stark forgot about the others in the building. He let go of the world outside and discarded the idea that he was indulging in a silly myth which had no logical basis.

He and Steve were the only heartbeats in the world as he brought his lips tenderly to meet the unconscious man's. After a few moments he gently pulled away to see Steve's eyes fluttering open. The confusion etched there only made Tony feel more affection towards the man in his arms.

"T-Tony? What happened?"

"Let's just say I saved you from a few long wait in a tower Sleeping Beauty."

This didn't seem to enlighten Steve any more, but he obviously felt something against his lips, as he asked: "Did you just kiss me?"

The surprise in his voice was the only thing that made Tony blush uncertainly. He suddenly wondered if he had done something completely unwise.

"Well you had just passed out, without giving me any prior warning I might add, which was pretty inconvenient when you-". He stopped noticing the smile that was beginning to edge into the corner of Steve's mouth.

"What? You should really say something because your silence is making-"

Before the billionaire could begin a new fast-paced ramble, Steve put his hand on the back of Tony's neck and lowered him down into a kiss.

After a few warm, breathless moments they parted, and all Tony could muster was: "Oh."

Steve chuckled and leaned in for another taste of soft lips.

"JARVIS," Tony murmured in a moment of rest, "cancel the medics on standby. Oh and tell the others we've gone out."

That was all he managed before impatient lips silenced him once more.


End file.
